Maverick McNealy grabbed the last qualifying place for the BMW Championship on Sunday, holding the No. 50 spot in the FedEx Cup standings and sending Keith Mitchell and Jordan Spieth out of the top 50. McNealy entered the final round at No. 50 and kept it there with a bogey-free 69 on the back nine, including two birdies.
That was the answer to the question plenty of fans were asking after the FedEx St. Jude Championship: who qualified for the BMW Championship, and who fell short when the cutoff hit. The top 50 after Sunday advanced, and McNealy made sure he was one of them by finishing tied for 19th while the field behind him tightened around the line.
The margin was razor-thin. Mitchell finished 51st and missed the BMW Championship by 7.819 points, while Spieth ended up 52nd after needing to close with four pars to reach the next round for the first time since 2023. Brian Harman also slipped to 65th after a final-round 75, showing how quickly one round can shuffle the bottom of the cutoff zone.
McNealy was direct about what No. 50 means. He said the top 50 number is probably the most important one on the PGA Tour right now, because it carries more than one prize: a place in the BMW Championship and entry into all of next year's $20 million signature events. The cutoff also matters because the BMW Championship is the second stop in the FedEx Cup playoffs, and only the top 50 survive to keep chasing the Tour Championship.
The last spot often turns on tiny errors and one clean stretch, and Sunday was no different. Mitchell said he did not look at the leaderboard all day, then described a 3-wood that he thought was perfect before a gust carried it short and left him with trouble on the next shot. Spieth said he did not execute enough shots and needed to be almost flawless, adding that he feels close to playing really good golf again even as he now goes a long stretch without a tournament.
For McNealy, the job is done for now. He gets the BMW Championship and the security that comes with being inside the top 50, while Mitchell and Spieth are left to count the points that separated them from the line. The next target is St. Louis and the Tour Championship, but only McNealy is still alive for that run.
